DAAAAAAAAAAAAMN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kinda cute sitting by your keyboard and synthesizers, looking all introspective......

Flying away from the Typhoon Kong-rey with the last plane from Shanghai, arriving straight to Miki Abe, his inaugural wonderful Picnic People Panic to the DJ booth at Womb Tokyo to take over from the superb Alien Sex Friends.

Here is the live recording.

Ryosuke Tsuchiya, who also served as PA, mastered this mix. He used a unique approach, including IR reverb, to simulate the environment of the day with an immersive feel.
WOMB is a club with a very high ceiling and wooden floor. The subwoofer, with its large horn, gives the kick a rich ambience.

Enjoy!

Vladimir Ivkovic Live at PICNIC PEOPLE PANIC - November 1st 2024 at Womb Tokyo

2-part b2b set from our midweek series at @nowadaysnyc 4.17.2025

@como-se-dj
@aele___

como se DJ b2b aka-Sol  live from Dripping @ Nowadays

Valesuchi is a producer who we have kept a close eye on for a while now – the Chilean artist has released some stellar leftfield house and techno, drawing upon Latin influences and channeling a proper DIY sensibility.

We are talking rough drums, dusty pads, grungey acid and everything in between.

Based in Rio De Janeiro we felt now would be a fitting time to feature her in our series after she reached out and sent us her new album – which is as riotous and intriguing as they come. A proper journey through weird soundscapes and analogue dreams.

This mix showcases her versatility as a DJ, a proper masterclass in movement between style, genre and pace. All with a no holds barred undercurrent which keeps things very fresh and very interesting.

Valesuchi: The Ransom Note Mix

A live DJ recording from Don Chich B2B GNMR at For The Cause Festival outside of Melbourne in Poowong, Victoria Australia on 29 March 2025. For The Cause is a loving curated, grass roots and intimate festival from a group and community of wonderful and kind people doing it all for the right reasons. 

The guys played a now-legendary closing set the festival on Saturday night/Sunday morning from 2:30am till 7am and we're lucky enough to have it to share with the world. 

It's an immersive, barnstorming 4 and a half hours of the highest grade records, two selectors going b2b for the first time and by the sounds of this, definitely not the last. 

There are gems a plenty in this mix as you'd expect from Don - head chef of the always-reliable Don's Delicatessen channel on YouTube - and GNMR, an Italian selector who held a residency at the legendary Goa Club in Rome.  

soundcloud.com/gnmr
soundcloud.com/donchich
youtube.com/@dons.delicatessen
instagram.com/forthecause___
instagram.com/don.chich
instagram.com/gnmr_____

space•cast 027 - Don Chich & GNMR Live at For The Cause Festival

All the atmosphere, length and drama of a film score: over two hours of dark, thick post-punk and wave from Brussels-based DJ Nina Welch, recorded live from RA's stage at Horst Arts & Music 2025.

@horstartsmusicfestival

RA Live - Nina Welch - Horst Arts & Music 2025, Belgium

For RA.1000, DJ Sprinkles' first mix in over a decade is a powerful meditation on the genocide in Gaza.

Dance music often relies on simple narratives: release, escape, unity. But those narratives can often feel inadequate, and even at times, hollow. Or, as Terre Thaemlitz might bluntly put it, just "shitty."

For her first mix in around 15 years, Terre Thaemlitz AKA DJ Sprinkles, challenges us to think differently. "I felt this 1000th podcast should reflect the moment in which it was made," she told us in her Q&A.

And what is this moment? Every day since Israel's 2023 assault on Gaza began, an average of 28 children have been killed. That's an entire classroom, every day, for over 600 days (at the time of writing). It's a staggering figure that only captures a fragment of the listless cruelty imposed on the strip.

Faced with such a genocide, what can music really do? How political can it truly be?  For their RA.1000, Thaemlitz gives us an unflinching rebuke to the idea that music should provide escapism. The mix weaves ambient fragments and jazz passages, woven around samples from Israeli media and the voices of outspoken Jewish critics like Gabor Maté and Norman Finkelstein. 

The result is not just a protest, but a document of our time. For Terre Thaemlitz, music is never just music. Her RA.1000 serves as a reminder that in an age of relentless suffering, the most political act is to reject the illusion of escape, and search for something greater.

Read the interview and find the tracklist at ra.co/podcast/1013. Listen to all RA.1000 mixes, as well as the complete history of the RA Podcast, at https://1000.ra.co

RA.1000 Terre Thaemlitz / DJ Sprinkles

Current Material is a mixtape (C60) recorded by C.K and released in '25. It contains 90% unreleased material.

In total 50 copies were made. The cassette tapes were distributed through Safe Distribution and in various (offline) record stores worldwide.

*Update 15/09/2025: Still a few copies left!

C.K - Current Material

@second_contact, Honey Trap mainstay, mix series pathfinder and metalsmith at @forge-fm is inspired by those who know the rules well enough to break them. Behind the decks, he oscillates between downtempo, dark wave, and progressive trance exploring the idea between restraint and release.

Second Contact at Nowadays for .·:*¨༺ Honey Trap༻¨*:·. 08-14-25

Ethio-jazz luminary Mulatu Astatke graces us with an hour of music – including Ethiopian jazz that has influenced him over the years, and some picks from his new record Mulatu Plays Mulatu. Astatke plays the Southbank Centre as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival November 16th.  
Find the full tracklist and related episodes on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/guests/episodes/mulatu-astatke-28th-september-2025

Mulatu Astatke 280925

In the words of Scott Zacharias, who closed the Outer Space Room at No Way Back, May 25, 2025, Day 2 of Return to the Source at Tangent, Detroit:

“NWB, being more than just the sum of its parts, always reflects my current life state(or lack of) and this year was no different. My friend Zach reminded me of this ultra-special cut by Arthur Russell: “In the Light of the Miracle.” It’s one of those holy grails and this mix (by Danny Krivit & Tony Smith) only existed as unreleased Talking’ Loud promo until a Soul Jazz comp finally issued it properly in 2005. I used to run it occasionally some 20 years ago, but hearing it again left me shook and set the stage for my entire set. And the rest of my life. My partner Ellen and I learned we were pregnant that same weekend.

Completely overwhelmed, I felt like I just wanted to share music for folks like I do in my own living room. Not really as a mix, but an intimate family affair. In the wee hours of the morning when I finally decided to share Russell’s opus, Ellen joined me on stage. We embraced and cried as we saw all our friends dancing in a now sunlit room. 

“I love you and that's all, living in the light.” — Arthur Russell”


IT.podcast.s14e07: Scott Zacharias at No Way Back 2025

PURO HOUSE

Ransom Note is an online music, arts and culture magazine. We provide a home for readers and writers with boundless enthusiasm, esoteric knowledge, fierce opinions and impeccable taste.

With our core team immersed in all aspects of dance music, we publish news, articles, and interviews covering the greatest in innovative, underground culture from across the globe. We offer regular, exclusive music and mixtapes from our favourite artists, and publish features shining a light on everything from the freshest new artists to the untold tales from rave history.

Alongside this we offer musings on film, books, life, and art, generating some context and controversy as an antidote to the reheated PR that clogs up the internet. Our office is fuelled by Tunnock’s Bars, cat memes, hangovers and a ridiculous, never ending love for our culture.

We're always interested in getting new writers on board – feel free to get in touch if you’ve got a story to tell.

With love until the grave.

Valesuchi: The Ransom Note Mix

Ransom Note

Recent comments

Dawyd Thiago

Dawyd Thiago

Qi Dass

Qi Dass

Related tracks